Foamy Brine
by The Grasshopper
Summary: An alternate ending to Kate Chopin's "The Awakening." Replaces ch. 34 and done for an English class.


Robert Lebrun's wedding was beautiful. The organ music swelled, as if alive by the very current of the ocean and spirits within it, possessing the gentle melody until it became a persistent, echoing hum. There were not many guests, but the ones that attended behaved as guests should, and stayed respectfully silent. They only moved to dab at their sincere, teary eyes.   
  
The church itself was nearly all white inside. The bridesmaid bouquets were white, and their dresses were a soft pink. It was the same shade of pink as the budding carnations tucked thoughtfully between the frosted roses. Everything in the wedding seemed to match, and yet it wasn't with much expense. Many ladies attended, most of them for the sole purpose of seeing Robert Lebrun get married in the first place (the thought was simply shocking!) Their husbands were politely disinterested, and were not impressed with the pretty simplicity of the situation.   
  
Robert himself stood still, straight, and tall, with the fitted black jacket and trousers making him resemble something carved out of granite. He watched the double doors for his bride, a mixed look of emotion in his eyes, which was expected from a bridegroom. There was obvious anticipation, nervousness, and uncertainty…but also unidentified emotions that no one at the service could quite pick up enough to identify. He seemed to not realize that all eyes were on him, on his face, as his own attention was turned towards the ornate church doors, and away from the figure watching him, with burning eyes, in the front row.  
  
Edna Pontellier wore what was expected, and she sat with her husband on one side of her, who clasped her hand in the same fashion s the other married couples in the room. He was proud of his wife, his state, and seemingly proud of Robert. Edna herself was very still. There were no tears, though her hand was clutching a white handkerchief so hard that her own nails dug into her soft palm. She stared straight ahead, directly at Robert, though appeared to not actually see him. A thin veil clouded her features, nearly everything but her sharp eyes, but hid her pretty face and gave a rather ghoulish appearance. Edna did not return the gentle grip of her husband's hand, there was no response from her at all, and her fingers were limp and dead.   
  
And so the ceremony began. The priest's gentle voice was almost like a lullaby, and Edna found herself drifting to a strange state as he spoke. Only certain words and certain phrases was she able to pick up from the speech.   
  
"…Therefore, if any man can show any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak…"   
  
She did not move. She did not cry. She made no sound, even as every muscle in her body longed to cry out… She was not a man, and so she must hold her silence and suffer alone, as all women.   
  
"Or else hereafter for ever hold his peace…"   
  
Edna was silent, and the vows were exchanged.   
  
~*~  
  
Lucille Lebrun loved the ocean. On days when it was hot, there was nothing she enjoyed more than to brave the lapping waves, until the salty water was nearly up to her waist. Today it was particularly scorching, and as the ladies complained on the porch, Lucille came up with the idea to go swimming. It was only well received by Mrs. Pontellier, and to her Lucille was especially grateful. She would have never dated to go into the water alone, since she was a dreadful swimmer. She took Edna's arm with a smile, and together they went down to the sand, and to change.   
  
The water felt cool on Lucille's ankles, but as she tentatively stepped out further, she felt a sudden, sharp pang of fear. For a moment the clear, blue sea looked threatening, and the white, puffy clouds thinned to become dark, obscure, and looming. The beautiful, bright day became menacing, s the sun was hidden behind an imaginary haze that seemed to appear out of nowhere.   
  
Edna was suddenly at her side, and Lucille blinked the sun from her eyes. The days seemed as cheery as ever.   
  
She stepped out further, to the usual, familiar spot, where the water raced deliciously and coolly over her hips. It was then that Lucille smiled and erased all thoughts of the foreboding clouds, as she moved further out over the waves, with Edna at her side.   
  
"So how have you been, dear Lucille? Has Robert been good to you?" Edna asked, with a small smile that was almost chilling. Although it could not be that way purposefully, perhaps it was the light…   
  
"Oh, yes, Robert s absolutely wonderful! I feel so fortunate to be in my position, when so many women seem unhappy in their marriage…I couldn't ask for anything more…" And so much was positively true. Robert had a lovely house built for his new wife, on the hill overlooking the sea. The house itself could barely be seen from the porch, the one all the women were crowded on at this very moment, but it was the first tower lit by the sun in the morning light. IT was a beautiful house, and Robert gave Lucille much of the say on different pieces of furniture, as well as decoration that would have been to her liking. Lucille had truly not expected everything to be so lenient, so easy, and with such a loving husband… Throughout the few months that passed, she was beginning to believe that she actually did love Robert, and she was looking forward to seeing him every day. The wedding ring on her finger was something now she guarded, almost fiercely.   
  
Edna smiled again, but this time the sincerity was not there, like before, and Lucille felt her own smile falter a bit.   
  
"How nice…I always thought that he seemed like a very nice young man."  
  
There was something in the words that made Lucille uncomfortable. She nodded a little, and suddenly realized that the waves were becoming higher…  
  
No, not higher…they were out deeper.   
  
Edna was just a bit behind her, but it was enough to make Lucille's uneasiness swell. "He is…he is very nice, a wonderful husband. I…I knew him when I was much younger…and your husband, Mr. Pontellier, he seemed very charming as well." Lucille heard herself babble, and was not sure if it was her own agitation or the desire to melt the strange look in Edna's eyes.   
  
Edna nodded. "I don't know what I would do without him. I would probably go out into this ocean and never come back…"  
  
Lucille, of course, assumed that she was speaking of Mr. Pontellier, and the young girl forced a sweet smile. To Edna, the one whom she was speaking of was nowhere near to her own husband.   
  
"I loved him, you know." The words were simple, final, almost like an epitaph.   
  
"Loved…your husband?" Lucille was confused, and yet even as the asked the question, she already knew and dreaded the answer.   
  
Edna laughed, a light, musical laugh that sounded odd. "No! Not him. Robert. I loved Robert. He would have married me."   
  
"Married you?" Lucille took another apprehensive step back, and felt another wave billow behind her. This time it wasn't expected, and she choked on the tangy water before recovering again. "I…I never knew that…"   
  
"Of course not! You wouldn't have, would you? Robert dropped all thoughts of me when he left, when he left me that note… He tried to forget about me. But I know that he still loves me. I know it. I see the way that he looks at me, when you're not looking." The strange look had returned to Edna's eyes, and she stepped forward, her hands lingering on the surface of the water.   
  
Fearful, Lucille stepped back again, and this time the wave covered her entire head, and her choking was much worse. In the course of her distress, Edna, who was much taller than the younger girl, seized her hand and slipped the ring off of her finger.   
  
"It fits me much better! See!" Mrs. Pontellier took off her own ring, and the small, shiny promise disappeared down into the murky water. Lucille's wedding ring took its place. It was far too small, and had to rest above Edna's knuckle, but she hardly seemed to notice.   
  
"Mrs…Mrs. Pontellier…please…I think that I should go back now. They'll be wondering where I am…" Lucille gasped, softly, by now she was hardly able to hold her head above the tide.   
  
But Edna advanced on her even further, either not noticing the girl's words or choosing to ignore them. "I would have given up everything for him! He had everything…he still has everything…and he threw it all away!"  
  
This time when the wave drew back, and the water became calm, Lucille's feet did not find the familiar, sandy bottom. Caught in a panic, she grabbed Edna's wrist, and held on for dear life. "Help me! Oh, Edna, help me, please!"  
  
Edna pushed the girl further out, still walking on, unrelenting. "You will never know! You'll never know ho he loved me…" The words ended in a sob, and she tried to shake Lucille off of her wrist, even as Lucille's head sank underneath the water and did not come up again. Edna held her below the water.   
  
For a few moments Lucille fought, her fingernails scratching, raking down Edna's arm, and left painful red streaks…but Edna could not feel them. She couldn't feel anything but her own tears as she stood in the center of the ocean, sobbing.   
  
The dying girl drew her last breath, which was only water… Then Lucille's hand stilled, and floated lifelessly down by her side. The grip on Edna's arm was still tight, unyielding, and possessed in Lucille's cold, dead fingers.   
  
"Edna!" Robert's voice floated from the beach, and Edna was started enough to turn. Robert only saw her, and saw no sign of his wife at all.   
  
The waves were growing taller now, and Edna found it difficult to hold herself up as much as before, with Lucille's body dragging her out further. Each wave brought her away from the shore, with the force of the tide.   
  
Robert plunged into the ocean, without even bothering to remove his jacket, and reached out his hand as he came close to where Edna was struggling.   
  
As his hand brushed hers, Edna suddenly came alive, and batted him away with a mixture of anger and contempt.   
  
At that, Robert drew back, shocked, and at the same exact moment noticed the hand around her wrist. He froze, and took only a moment to identify the sleeve of the dress as the wave drew back, when the arm was exposed to the elbow.   
  
His voice was more of a moan, in time with the rhythem of the waves. "My God, my God…"   
  
Edna was the one choking now, and she glared hatefully, furiously at Robert. And yet…there was a love, a deep love behind even the darkest look in her eyes.   
  
Now Robert was the one to draw his hand back, and he watched Edna with disgust as she faded into the waves. He did not offer his help. He did not move forward. Several minutes passed, and he waited, as still as he had been during the ceremony of his wedding. He could not take his eyes from where he last saw her face, and where he'd seen his wife. The ocean seemed to breathe with a new being, a new fate, and Robert was afraid to even take a step. What if the ocean was not satisfied? Would it take him too, as it had taken Edna and his wife? Would he become a part of their legacy, a ghost doomed to haunt the ocean and the life beyond-a wife, vast, field of nothingness-of silent, ominous secrets and despairing love? A love that never dies… And if it did, it had to be in death. For how can life end if not in death? And if life is love, then love must ultimately lead to death, as do all good things in the world.   
  
Robert treaded out into the water, and he found Lucille. He lifted her carefully and tried very hard not to see her wide-open eyes, her curled hand…the hand that no longer held Edna's arm.   
  
There were no thoughts of Edna then. With slow, heartrending movements, Robert brought the body of his dead wife back to shore, and gently laid her on the sand. He noticed that her wedding ring had slipped off… but he did not think of that either, as he gently, and reverently, folded Lucille's hands over each other.   
  
After a time, Robert left his wife on the beach and went back into the ocean, but Edna's body was not to be found. The sun was setting over the horizon, and the very far waters were growing dark and sinister. As Robert made his way back to shore, the waves pulled at him, almost a temptation to join the lives trapped within their foamy brine. With steadfast determination, he ignored the raging lure to join Edna, his wide, and the sea filled with empty promises that were never meant to be. 


End file.
